Rabbi Mark Glickman: How to Listen to a Days of Awe Sermon – A Users Guide

By Rabbi Mark Glickman

(Calgary) – The Days of Awe are approaching. And as Jews everywhere prepare to attend services, one element of worship that many look forward to – and that many others dread – is the rabbi’s sermon. For some of us, and from some rabbis, listening to a sermon can be quite enjoyable. For others and from others, it can be more challenging.

With this in mind, here are seven pointers that might help enrich your upcoming sermon-listening, and render it an especially meaningful element of your Days of Awe worship experience.

Listen: Many Jews take the sermon as an opportunity to zone out; others even sneak in earbuds and use the time to catch up on the score of that day’s game. Remember, though, that your rabbi is a teacher of Torah, and likely has important lessons to share with you. Some rabbis are great orators, others less so, but most of us put a lot of thought and energy into what we say during our Days of Awe sermons. Jews do well to give their rabbis benefit of the doubt, assume that there is value to what he or she has to say, and pay close attention to the words coming from the bimah.

 Be Introspective: There’s an old joke we rabbis tell one another: One of our colleagues delivers a sermon excoriating the congregation for some sort of shortcoming in their behavior. Afterward, a guy comes up to the rabbi and says, “Good sermon, Rabbi. You really told them!”

Your rabbi’s sermon isn’t addressed to them, it’s addressed to you. As you listen, avoid the temptation to apply the rabbi’s words to everyone else, but instead consider how they might help you transform your life for the better.

 Don’t Necessarily Expect Warm Fuzzies: Rabbis’ sermons can often be affirming. They can make us feel really good about ourselves and our world, and they feel really good to listen to. Your rabbi’s Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur sermons may indeed be like that. But let’s remember that these are the Days of Awe – they are days imbued with themes such as repentance, vulnerability, and memory. Indeed, the Hebrew word for awe – yir’ah – is the same as the Hebrew word for fear. The themes of these days are more difficult, heavier, than those upon which rabbis tend to focus at other times. Be open to the heaviness; be open to the difficulty; often, it is precisely the awe-full nature of these days that can render them most transformative.

Challenge Yourself: The purpose of a sermon is not just to give the rabbi an opportunity to pontificate (rabbificate?) from the bimah. An effective sermon changes things. It changes us. So, as you listen to your rabbi, consider what takeaways there might be in that sermon for you. How might you meaningfully translate the sermon into helpful and important changes that you can make in your own life

 Rabbis Speak Torah as they Understand It – Encourage This: Remember, nowhere does it say that you need to agree with your rabbi’s sermon. The sermon doesn’t necessarily reflect the views of the entire congregation (and, indeed, sometimes it should challenge those views). Sometimes, the rabbi will say controversial things. This is as it should be. If you disagree, don’t storm away from the congregation, come back for more. You might learn a thing or two, and, as I explain below, your disagreement might lead to helpful dialogue.

 Disagree, but Thoughtfully: Yes, feel free to disagree with your rabbi, but always be sure to do so thoughtfully. If he or she says something that sounds outrageous, ask yourself whether the rabbi’s intended message might be different from the way it came across. If the sermon sounds just plain old wrong, pause for a moment to consider whether there might be some truth in there somewhere. If it makes you angry, reflect on where your anger is coming from. Maybe the sermon really was worthy of your ire, or maybe it triggered something in you based on your own life experience.

 Disagree, but Kindly: I’ll never forget the very first sermon I delivered after I was ordained a rabbi – it was 1990, I was covering for a colleague who was on vacation, and I shared some of my views on the First Gulf War. Afterward, an elderly woman walked up to me, smiled, and said, “Rabbi, thank you for a very articulate and well-reasoned sermon…with which I totally disagreed.” Rabbis love feedback like that! If you disagree with a sermon, tell your rabbi, talk with your rabbi, engage in a respectful argument with your rabbi. Perhaps US President Barack Obama said it best when he challenged people to “disagree without being disagreeable.” It applies just as much to our relationships with our rabbis as with anyone else.

 The Days of Awe are a time to reflect and to learn and to change for the better. And one way we Jews have performed these sacred tasks for centuries is by listening to words of Torah as taught by our rabbis. If you do it right, listening to your rabbi’s sermon – whether you agree with it or not – can help transform you and your community. It’s an opportunity that we all should relish.

 Rabbi Mark Glickman is the Rabbi at Temple B’nai Tikvah in Calgary.